


Escape the Night – OET: The Haunting of the North Pole Part One

by Dede42



Series: Our Eternity Together - Delta's POV [12]
Category: Creepypasta - Fandom, Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Multi-Fandom, Original Work, Our ETerNity Together (Web Series AU)
Genre: Christmas, F/F, Halloween, Suspicions, revival
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-02
Updated: 2021-01-08
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:27:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 7,963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27843718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dede42/pseuds/Dede42
Summary: Delta suddenly finds herself back at the North Pole with her friends, Jasmine, and a few revived writers…but something isn't right. She is getting creepy vibes from the place, and everyone's outfits looked to be a cross between Halloween and Christmas.What is going on around here? And why are she, Mystic, Ro, Sugarbelle, Cyrille, and Ivy the only ones picking up on the fact that something is very wrong?
Relationships: ETNMystic (Fandom RPF)/The Mystic | Andrea Russett, ETNMystic/Ivy Flora (Mystic's OC)
Series: Our Eternity Together - Delta's POV [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1738468
Comments: 22
Kudos: 3





	1. PROLOGUE: HALLOWEEN AND CHRISTMAS

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ETNMystic](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ETNMystic/gifts), [NervousAliceCurious](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NervousAliceCurious/gifts), [SummerInAmsterdam](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SummerInAmsterdam/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Our Eternity Together](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16768489) by [ETNMystic](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ETNMystic/pseuds/ETNMystic). 



> Hello, world and welcome back to Escape the Night!
> 
> Yup, another installment and things are getting both Christmasy *and* spooky. Onward!

Disclaimer: I don’t own anything from _Escape the Night_. I just own any and all characters that I just happen create.

**PROLOGUE: HALLOWEEN AND CHRISTMAS**

*****

When it comes to Halloween, people will watch spooky fun movies like _It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!_ , _Hocus Pocus_ , and even horror movies. While for Christmas, people will watch fun movies instead, or even _Die Hard_ , if they’re wanting action.

Basically, there’d never been a reason for these two holidays to mix…that is until Tim Burton introduced the world to _The Nightmare Before Christmas_ , and a whole new genre of movies was opened.

Now, there are movies that can be watched for both Halloween _and_ for Christmas, and, sadly, many of them are horror movies. Seriously, why turn Christmas into a horror movie? _Why?!_

Anyway, I wish that was the only thing that didn’t make sense to me, but I had a feeling that I was about to deal with something different altogether, given that Jasmine and I had just been teleported away right before Junko’s eyes, and it wasn’t going to be good.

Where we’ve ended up, I have no idea. No idea at all.


	2. CHAPTER ONE: SURPRISE REUNION!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, world and welcome back to Escape the Night!
> 
> Time to figure out where Delta and Jasmine have ended up. Onward!

**CHAPTER ONE: SURPRISE REUNION!**

*****

Ididn’t know where Jasmine and I were, and all I could see was shadows. I was also lying down on something hard. Maybe a floor? I could hear muffled voices and the shadows were slowly starting to fade, so I was able to see faint figures…just a few.

_“Mystic?!”_

_“Cyrille!”_

I saw one faint figure helped another faint figure out of some kind of faint box shape, but I wasn’t sure of who Cyrille was.

_“Holy sh*t,”_ I heard Mystic gasped, sounding happy and relieved. _“I thought you were a goner! What the f* happened?"_

_"I…honestly I have no clue. My soul was basically yeeted from my body-" The voice stopped for a moment or two, and then she spoke again._ _"Just the High B* shrieking. Anyway, they basically just yeeted my soul from my body_ _.”_

_“Mama?”_

I became aware that Jasmine wasn’t with me, and was now, somehow, outside of the shadow. “Jasmine!” She couldn’t hear me!

_“When the f* did that get here?!" Cyrille exclaimed. "What the f* did I miss? Where the f* are we?"_

_"I don't know. A lot. And I'm not entirely sure_ _,” Mystic admitted as their forms got a bit clearer._

I could now see Jasmine was trying to shake me free of the shadow, but she stopped and backed away when it tried to cover her paws.

“ _This is bad...." Sugarbelle,_ for I was starting to see her now _, gulped. "Really bad.”_

“… _Yeah, I'm with Babey Elf here," Cyrille agreed. "Something's wrong.”_

Finally the shadow disappeared and I could see the room fully, even though I was still lying on the wooden floor, still a bit out of it.

“Delta!” Mystic called out to me.

I slowly stirred and pushed myself upright, glad to see familiar faces.

“Mystic! Sugarbelle!…Stranger I've Never Met Before," I exclaimed, feeling a little confused on the last one.

"Cyrille," Cyrille introduced herself.

"Delta," I replied, figuring that she was one of the writers who’d gotten killed before I got pulled into this nightmare of an adventure.

"Jasmine," said Jasmine.

"Sugarbelle," said Sugarbelle.

"A walking pile of trash," said Mystic, and I rolled my eyes, already foreseeing the debate that was going to start.

"Trash can't walk," Sugarbelle pointed out as more shadows started opening up.

"I'm guessing you appeared after I died," Cyrille told me.

I nodded. "Probably. Wait, you died?!"

She nodded. "I was the one chosen to become a vessel for this coven's High Priestess."

"She died second,” Mystic informed us. “Kyrie was first."

_"What about me being first?"_

Another shadow unveiled itself, revealing the writer in question.

"Kyrie!" Cyrille exclaimed.

"Cyrille!" she gasped excitedly as she stood up.

"Kyrie…" said Mystic, and she gulped.

_‘She must’ve had a hand in what happened to Kyrie,’_ I thought, having a feeling that Mystic was feeling guiltly.

"Mystic!" Kyrie smiled before noticing Mystic’s expression. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Mystic replied with a less-than-convincing smile.

_"Oh my."_

"Genevieve!" Kyrie, Cyrille, and I exclaimed.

_"Wha....what happened?"_

And Alice stood up, looking as bewildered as the rest of us were looking and feeling.

"Alice," Mystic smiled and ran over to hug her. And as they hugged, they got joined by a familiar figure in a soft fluffy coat, smelling of cinnamon rolls.

"Hey, Ro," Mystic chuckled.

"'Oy! Where are we?"

I snickered when Mystic’s face went red when Ivy appeared, and even Cyrille was looking a bit flushed upon seeing the pirate princess. I grinned as Mystic ran to Ivy and hugged her tightly.

"Missed ye, love," Ivy said, smiling before giving Mystic a peck on the cheek.

"Oh," Cyrille's voice dropped in disappointment but then perked up again. "You got any other relatives, whoever you are?"

_‘Ok, so Cyrille and I are the only ones without a boyfriend, or girlfriend in her case,’_ I thought, pushing back some jealously since I wanted Mystic to be happy.

"This is Ivy Flora," Mystic giggled. "She's my girlfriend."

_"What the f*ck is up, Kyle?!"_

Andrea Russett went over to Cyrille.

"It's been a while," Cyrille chuckled.

As more and more people emerged from the shadows, I realized that most of them were focused on Mystic, and I was being ignored…again.

_‘Nothing changes,’_ I thought, feeling familiar negative feelings rising up. _‘I bet not one of them even thought about trying to save me from Junko.’_

"Mystic!" Andrea R. gasped when she saw Mystic, and based on the reaction on Mystic’s face, she was _clearly_ having feelings for Andrea R. as well. "Oh thank God, you're okay!"

"I'm okay?” Mystic repeated and turned toward me. “Forget about me. Delta, are _you_ okay?"

I hadn’t expected this, so I weakly gave a thumbs-up, but when she glared at me, I sighed. "I mean, to be fair, it's not entirely a lie,” I admitted. “you just saved me from becoming the next Izuru Kamukura."

"Junko Enoshima's here?!" Mystic yelped.

I nodded. "I wasn't even her first choice, mind you. She wanted you first."

"Why do you sound sad about that?" Alice asked.

I frowned. "Well excuse me if I want to be a first choice for something."

"Girl, you need to get your priorities together," Nikita scoffed, causing me to bristle a bit. "Also who's the furbaby?"

Hearing this, I proudly picked up Jasmine. "This is Jasmine," I said, beaming. "She's been keeping me company while I was being held captive. You can thank Cindy and Mikan for it later."

"Wait, Cindy?" Nikita blinked. "You mean that snake b*h who could've killed me? Why should I be thanking _her_? She's evil."

"Tell you what," I spat back, having had enough of Nikita’s “I’m better then everyone and I’m smarter then everyone” crap. "You try being stuck in a cell for weeks with no idea of when you're gonna get out before finally getting a gift, even if it's from a villain, and _then_ tell me she's evil." Yeah, I was straight-up done with everyone and anyone's crap by this point, and I was sure that Mystic could tell.

_"What the hell?"_

We looked to see one of the other writers emerge from her shadow alongside a bear-shaped shadow.

"Who the hell are you?" Mystic asked.

"I'm Montana," Montana replied as more of us emerged. "I don't know why I'm here, but I'm here…wherever this is."

Mystic nodded. "Good to know."

"So where are we?" Andrea asked.

"And what are we wearing?" Teala wondered.

I finally looked down at my clothes – and saw that, for some reason, I was wearing what looked like a horror version of a Christmas character, and when I looked at the group, I saw that they _all_ were all horror versions of Christmas characters. I could also tell that, for some reason, Mystic, Cyrille, Sugarbelle, Ro, and Ivy could tell that something was wrong with our outfits.

"Oh cute," Nikita said to Bretman. "You're Rudolph."

_‘_ _More like Werewolf Rudolph,’_ I thought uneasily, and it was confusing. Why were the six of us being the only ones to see that something was seriouslywrong?

"Where even are we?" Safiya asked.

"Beats me," Andrea said.

"Door!" Sugarbelle pointed at a door just up ahead and ran for it.

"Sugarbelle!" Mystic called after her as we dashed after her, catching up as she started to reach for the doorknob. "Sugarbelle, you don't know what's beyond there."

"Only one way to find out," she argued.

Mystic blinked, realized that she wasn’t wrong, and she reached for the doorknob and turned it.

"Aww! This is cute!" Matpat said.

"It's so Christmas-y!" Alice called.

It didn't look cute to me, or to Mystic, Cyrille, Ivy, Ro, and Sugarbelle. It looked demented, but in a subtle way, as if it slightly went past the uncanny valley. And I could tell exactly where we were.

We were back at the North Pole.

Somehow, we were back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After being held prisoner by Junko for weeks, Delta has every right to snap at Nikita like that. She's sick of her brand. And boy is the North Pole looking creepy. Bye for now! R&R everyone!


	3. CHAPTER TWO: ENTER DELILAH FLETCHER

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, world and welcome back to Escape the Night!
> 
> Back in the North Pole…oh boy. Onward!

Disclaimer: I don’t own anything from _Escape the Night_. I just own any and all characters that I just happen create.

**CHAPTER TWO: ENTER DELILAH FLETCHER**

*****

I wasn’t thrilled to be back in the North Pole, especially after all that crap with the elves, and it was clear to me that there was something _seriously_ wrong here. I didn’t understand why most of the group thought what they were seeing was cute, for it wasn’t cute to me, and I could tell that Mystic, Sugarbelle, Cyrille, Ro, and Ivy didn’t think what we were seeing was cute either.

To me, it looked like Halloween and Christmas collided, and were all mixed up. But not in a Tim Burton way, more horror movie instead.

“I'm not going anywhere near-" Mystic began.

I heard a sudden noise behind me, and I yelped, jumping. "!!!"

Mystic jumped and we all whirled around as two people jumped into consciousness, or just here in general.

"God f*king dammit!" Candy Pop grumbled, still stuck in Alice's body. "Another Christmas saga. And knowing the narrator, it's gonna be sickly-sweet."

I rolled my eyes. “Hello, Candy Pop.”

"I'm sorry, what the f*k is going on?" Cyrille asked.

Mystic took a deep breath. "These two got mixed up. Alice is in Ciel's body and Candy Pop is in Alice's body."

"And I want my body back," he grumbled. "I hate being in here."

Mystic started looking around. "Hmm…I can't seem to find it, can you, CP?"

"Find what?"

"Where the flying f*k I asked for your opinion."

Mystic smirked as he seethed at her.

I just shook my head. “Some things never change.”

“ _Excuse me?"_

We all turned around and saw a woman wearing a Christmas dress – or that was probably what most of the group saw. Me, I saw a woman wearing a dress that had vampires on it, and she was trying to look festive and so did the other five. But everyone else seemed to admire it. Except for Candy Pop, who was getting ready for the sickly-sweetness of Christmas.

"You all seem quite lost." The woman had sort of a British nanny voice. A very sweet one, calming and caring.

_‘_ _I don’t know about lost,’_ I thought, _‘but I don’t want to be here either way.’_

"Um, nah, we're fine," Cyrille said quickly.

“Yeah, we’re good,” I agreed.

"Where's the exit?" Candy Pop asked.

The woman sighed. "I'm afraid we're snowed in at the moment,” she admitted. “No one can come in, nor can they go out."

"Oh, well maybe we can help," Alice offered. "And then we can get out of your hair."

The woman approached her, and I saw that Alice was immediately relaxed by her presence.

"Now? Oh nonsense, my dear,” she tsked. “You just got here. You must be rather peckish and fatigued, aren't you?"

At that moment, Alice yawned in an adorable manner and she nodded. "A bit, yes."

The woman smiled and turned to the rest of us. "You must all be rather peckish and fatigued as well, correct?" she inquired politely.

I did start feeling tired and feeling, as the woman put it, a bit peckish, but I was able to fight it off since I _wasn’t_ relaxed by this woman in the way that Alice and most of the others were acting, and poor Jasmine was yawning from her place in my arms.

"She's right," Candy Pop yawned. "We just got here. It'd be rude for us to leave."

The six of us looked at each other in shock. Since when did CP care about manners?! And why were _we_ the only ones bothered by that?!

"Lovely," the woman giggled, clapping her hands together. "Now, my name is Delilah Fletcher, and I'm very much looking forward to getting to know you all. Please follow me to the dorms."

I had _no_ intention of following this Delilah Fletcher woman, and I could tell thatCyrille and Mystic were doing the NO meme face to one another as the others seemed to skip off.

"We all agree that there's no way in hell that this woman is as nice as she seems, right?" Mystic asked when they were out of earshot.

"Yup," I agreed, nodding fearfully.

"Mm-hmm," Sugarbelle gulped.

"'Undred percent," Ivy nodded.

"Oh yeah," Ro agreed.

"Does Tom Nook want your kneecaps when you don't pay off your debt?" Cyrille asked. "There's your answer."

"Something's amiss with Miss Fletcher," Mystic said. "And I don't like it. I don't like it one bit."

"But what _is_ amiss?" Sugarbelle asked.

Mystic gave this some thought. "What about how relaxed everyone got all of a sudden?"

"And how Alice started yawning after she asked if she was feeling tired," Cyrille added.

"And how CP actually cared about manners," I pointed out. "That's a red flag right there."

We all nodded in agreement.

"So then why is it just us six?" Ro asked. "Why do only six of us see that something's off about this whole thing? What do we have in common that the rest of them don't?"

We looked around at each other, trying to find some sort of commonality, besides us all being in this predicament.

"No clue," Sugarbelle shrugged.

"It's stumpin' me too," Ivy sighed.

"Well, we're all girls," I remarked, petting Jasmine, who'd fallen asleep in my arms.

"Yeah, but if that were the commonality, then _all_ of the girls would be seeing beyond the smoke and mirrors," Mystic countered. "But it's _just_ us six girls. Height's out of the question, so's age and nationality. Hmmm."

"Hmmm," Ro wondered.

"Hmmm," Sugarbelle wondered.

"Hmmm," I pondered.

"'Mmmm," Ivy pondered.

"Thinking noise," Cyrille said in a similar tone, which caused us all to snicker and then burst out into laughter.

It was nice to laugh again.

Yeah, I missed being with the group, and it was nice being included, even though there was definitely _something_ bad going on around here, and it more then likely had to do with that vampire Delilah Fletcher.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I don't trust that woman either. Bye for now! R&R everyone!


	4. CHAPTER THREE: MUST RESIST…DARN IT!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, world and welcome back to Escape the Night!
> 
> Yup, back with another chapter. Onward!

Disclaimer: I don’t own anything from _Escape the Night_. I just own any and all characters that I just happen create.

**CHAPTER THREE: MUST RESIST…DARN IT!**

*****

It took five minutes for us to calm down, but it was a good five minutes, and we then focused on trying to figure out why we six were the only ones who could see the truth about this place and the true form of Delilah Fletcher.

So, we tried to figure out what we had in common. Hair color was out, so were weight, zodiac, MBTI, Enneagram, skin color, and so on.

*****

“Ugh!” Mystic cried out after about 10 minutes. "I'm stumped."

And we five agreed. It was starting to look like we had _nothing_ in common to explain why we six weren’t affected.

_"If you're trying to find your way to the dorms, I'm more than happy to escort you."_

Startled, we all turned to see Miss Fletcher.

"Why on earth did you stay behind?" she asked in a concerned, and somewhat hurt, tone. "I made you all hot cocoa and cookies."

"Um…" Mystic gulped. "We're not that hungry actually."

I nodded and shifted the sleeping Jasmine in my arms. “Yup, not hungry at all.” I hadn’t said anything, but the moment that Delilah had left, I’d no longer felt tired…but that feeling was starting to return now that she was back.

Miss Fletcher giggled and moved over to Mystic. "Of course you are, my dear." She gave her nose an endearing tap, or a boop as we call it.

And just as she said that sentence, I felt my stomach growl. _‘Oh come on!’_ I thought, not wanting to feel hungry _or_ tired.

"Come along now," she said to us.

I did my level best to resist, I really did, and yet, it was _hard_. So, when Sugarbelle was the first to follow, I felt myself starting to cave. And then Ro after a good minute. And while I did manage to resist another full minute, I finally caved and went to stand with them, hating myself for caving to whatever spell was being used on us.

Cyrille and Ivy seemed to be battling it out for second place, but in the end, Cyrille caved. It was just Ivy and Mystic.

"Oh do come along," Miss Fletcher told us in a soothing voice. "I promise I don't bite."

But it was clear that Ivy and Mystic weren't having it.

"I'll be back for you two later then," she giggled before looking at the four of us. "In the meantime, let's get you little angels to some hot cocoa and cookies, shall we?"

And she lead us away.

_‘Sorry, Mystic,’_ I thought, following Miss Fletcher, _‘I really did try to resist, I did.’_ But I could feel my stomach growling, and I was getting tired.

This wasn’t good.

*****

We followed Miss Fletcher through the workshop, which was looking twisted and creepy with the mashup of Halloween and Christmas that was going on, and I was surprised that I hadn’t seen any of the elves, not that I wanted to see them. But I was curious of how this mixture of Halloween and Christmas was affecting both them and Santa.

I was also puzzling over how we six were the only ones seeing the truth about this place…at least it looked to be the truth, but it was confusing, and it was giving me a headache. So I did what I typically did when I was stressing out over something perplexing, I pushed it to the back of my mind to worry about later.

*****

Eventually we entered the dorms, which looked _very_ different from last time: there were bunk beds for a change, and the place looked like a creepy nursery because of how Halloween and Christmas were clashing.

“This is f*king creepy,” Cyrille muttered, unnerved by how the others seemed to be settling in on the bunks, snacking on hot cocoa and cookies, and the sight of C.P. cuddling with a teddy bear was just plain creepy.

“Language aside, I fully agree,” I whispered, and Ro and Sugarbelle were nodding in agreement.

Alice ran up, grinning. “Hey! Come and have some cookies and hot cocoa!” She grabbed Ro and Cyrille by the hands and pulled them toward two of the bunks.

“Scared,” Sugarbelle muttered, staying close to me.

I knew how she felt and I nodded to a nearby bunk that hadn’t been claimed. “Let’s go over there, ok, Sugarbelle?” And when she nodded, taking my hand tightly, I walked her over to the bunk, and I had to giggle when she climbed up the ladder to the top bunk. “You’ll be ok up there?”

“Yes.”

I nodded and then I sat on the bottom bunk, putting Jasmine, who let out a cute yawn, on the covers and stroked her while she slept, prompting her to purr.

I was surprised when Nikita came over with a mug of hot cocoa and a plate of cookies to give to me. “Uh…thanks.”

“Welcome!” And the troublemaker skipped away.

_‘Ok, this is just getting stranger and stranger,’_ I thought, feeling uneasy, and yet, when I tried the hot cocoa, I had to admit that it was good, as were the cookies.

_‘I hope Ivy and Mystic can find some clues,’_ I thought, realizing that Miss Fletcher had left, and I silently prayed that she wouldn’t find them too soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really did do my best to resist whatever magic Miss Fletcher's been using, I really did. Bye for now! R&R everyone!


	5. CHAPTER FOUR: DELTA GETS ATTENTION…MYSTIC IS JEALOUS?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, world and welcome back to Escape the Night!
> 
> Fair warning, there is going to be some jealously going on. So, watch out for the green-eyed monster. Onward!

Disclaimer: I don’t own anything from _Escape the Night_. I just own any and all characters that I just happen create.

**CHAPTER FOUR: DELTA GETS ATTENTION…MYSTIC IS JEALOUS?**

*****

I looked up from my hot cocoa when the door opened and Miss Fletcher returned, this time with Ivy, Mystic…and Lydia in tow. I was surprised to see the goth girl, given that the last time I saw her, she’d been examining the tree, and I’d heard her fall into it.

_‘When did Lydia get here?’_ I wondered, noting that she was looking creeped out by everything, and I guessed that she could also see what was wrong with this place.

“Mystic," Alice beamed after she swallowed a bite of a Christmas cookie. "You made it!"

"Of course she did!" Delilah said. "I wouldn't want to leave any of you behind."

"Mmmmmm," Kyrie sighed. "This is some _amazing_ hot cocoa.”

Delilah beamed once more. "Why thank you, dear. I made it with love.”

I peeked over at Candy Pop to see how he would react – and he was still cuddling and cooing to the teddy bear. _‘Super_ creepy _!’_ I thought.

“I think I’m gonna be sick,” I heard Mystic whisper to Lydia, and I didn’t blame her, since this was getting creepier by the second.

“Yeah, no kidding," she whispered back. "This is like Hell.”

Delilah had a faraway expression on her face. “Love," she sighed. "Such a fundamental aspect of _any_ relationship. Whether it be platonic, romantic-" She moved over to me and booped my nose. "-or maternal.”

I jumped a little, not having expected that to happen, and I saw that Mystic was staring at me, with an odd expression on her face.

“And mine is especially maternal, especially to you,” Delilah continued and I looked at her, surprised, as she continued to fawn over me, and I couldn’t help but feel both delighted and uneasy at the same time. “Just _look_ at how cute you are! With your wide eyes. That button nose. And those rosy cheeks. Oh, simply adorable! I could eat you up.”

My face went power ranger red while nearly everyone in the room “aww”, with the exception of Cyrille, Ro, Sugarbelle, Ivy, Mystic, and Lydia. And speaking of Mystic…I saw that her face was starting to turn red, and I realized that she was getting jealous.

_‘Mystic, please don’t get jealous of me,’_ I thought pleadingly as Delilah continued to fawn over me, _‘I didn’t ask for this. I didn’t!’_

But I also couldn’t help but enjoy the attention, which was something that I hadn’t gotten much of lately, and my face blushed a brighter red when she patted my head, similar to what others had done to Mystic…until now.

Delilah glanced over at Mystic. “Oh? Are you alright? You look quite red," she said. "And you're trembling rather profusely.”

I glanced at Mystic and saw that Delilah was right, for her face was red, her hands were balled into tight fists, and she _was_ trembling.

_‘Yeah, she’s jealous,’_ I thought, and yet, for some reason, it wasn’t bothering me like it was a few seconds ago.

Mystic took a deep breath and unclench her hands. “Never better,” she said, but with resentment.

Delilah smiled and went back to fawning over me, and my embarrassment started to fade, along with any guilt of enjoying it. I wasn’t even worried that Mystic was jealous either.

*****

A while later, I was finishing a second cup of hot cocoa, having had more chocolate chip cookies then I normally would, and I was feeling happy and content. Yeah, this place was still creeping me out, but I figured that I would just worry about it later…yeah, that’s what I was going to do, I would worry about it later.

“You all enjoy the hot cocoa and cookies," Delilah giggled. "But after that, right to bed. It's getting very late. I've set out pajamas for you all. Once you're finished with them, I want you all to brush your teeth and go right to sleep. Promise?"

"We promise," and most of us beamed.

I eagerly got off the bunk and skipped to the bathroom, taking with me the silk PJs that Delilah provided, wanting to change into them as soon as possible, especially since I’d never had silk PJs before, and I was eager to see how they would look.

*****

Once I was dressed, I brushed my teeth, and went back, just in time to hear Mystic talking with Ivy, Ro, and Alice.

“I just…I don't get it…" Mystic huffed as Ivy hugged me close. "I was suspicious of her the moment we stepped in here. Why do I care that she's fawning over her now?"

And I knew that she was talking about me, and I went back to my bed, sitting down to listen.

Ivy shrugged. "Maybe she likes te focus in on one person each day?”

“I think you're just overreacting," Alice told her. "She's been sweet to us since we arrived."

Mystic shook her head. "No…there's no way I'm overreacting."

"Mystic," she sighed with a hint of annoyance. "It's the first night here. Just give her some time."

"She's right," Ro said sitting on edge of the bed and rubbing Mystic’s hand. "I get that it feels horrible, but maybe she's just especially warmed up to Delta. Besides the poor girl's rarely been seen. And while you definitely deserve to feel loved, so does she."

_‘Yeah, I do,’_ I thought, certain that Mystic’s jealously would go away soon. _‘After all the carp I’ve been putting up with this whole time. I_ do _deserve to feel loved.’_

Mystic nodded. "Of course but…something feels weird about this…"

Ivy gave her a kiss on the cheek. "I fink maybe gettin' some sleep may 'elp a little, love.”

Delilah came back just then and proceeded to tuck us all into the bunks – well, I thought I saw her walk past Mystic, but I figured that I was just tired and imagined it, and she did make sure that I was comfortable under the warm blankets, that Jasmine was safe in my arms, and she even planted a kiss on my forehead. I went to sleep, cuddling Jasmine and smiling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After everything Delta's gone through, with her being excluded, ignored, and always getting the short end of the stick, you can't really blame her for enjoying the attention she's getting from Miss Fletcher can you? Bye for now!
> 
> R&R everyone!


	6. CHAPTER FIVE: DELTA IS HAPPY!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, world and welcome back to Escape the Night!
> 
> Let's see how things are going with the group. Onward!

Disclaimer: I don’t own anything from _Escape the Night_. I just own any and all characters that I just happen create.

**CHAPTER FIVE: DELTA IS HAPPY!**

*****

The next morning, I woke up and for the first time in a long time, I was feeling well-rested and happy, for this was the first time since I got dragged into this situation that I wasn’t getting the short end of the stick for a change, and I wasn’t being on brand for a change.

We all took turns with the bathroom to change into the outfits provided by Delilah, which were creepy Halloween/Christmas outfits and yet, they didn’t seem as creepy as they had yesterday.

In fact, none of the Halloween/Christmas stuff going on seemed as creepy as it had when we all first arrived here, and I figured that I was getting used to the sight.

“Are we going to be having breakfast, Mama?” Jasmine asked while letting Ro tie a red ribbon around her neck, which was a simple red ribbon and not creepy in the slightest.

“I hope so,” I responded, realizing that I was feeling really hungry, even with all the hot cocoa and cookies from last night, and I noted that Mystic was looking down about something.

I was about to see if she was all right – when the door to the dorms opened, and Delilah came bustling in with a cart loaded with covered dishes, and I was immediately distracted by the delicious smells coming from the cart.

“Who wants breakfast?" she asked, beaming. "I made pancakes!”

The majority of us hurried forward to for the fluffy pancakes that were revealed as Delilah removed the covers, and she even had a plate of bacon for Jasmine, who purred happily as I set the plate down on the floor for her and she immediately went to work on nomming the bacon happily.

I sat down and enjoyed my pancakes, which had dark chocolate chips in it, and it was only when I heard Mystic’s voice that I looked up from my food.

“Hello?" Mystic exclaimed. "I'm hungry too!" And, surprisingly, she didn’t have any food in front of her.

Delilah whirled around. "Oh," she said. "I forgot you were here." And she thrusted a plate of pancakes at Mystic, and I giggled in spite of myself, as did many of the others.

_‘Wait, why did I just giggle at how Mystic was treated?’_ I wondered, but then it just faded from my mind when I took another bite of my pancakes, and I figured that it was just a random passing thought while Lydia, who’d yelled at Delilah, Sugarbelle, Cyrille, Ivy, and Ro went to comfort Mystic.

*****

The next day, day 3, Delilah lead us to a room in the workshop, somehow avoiding the elves that we could now see going about their daily lives, and she informed us that she was going to call us in alphabetically to give each of us our jobs.

I was thrilled when I got to work on the sweets, which was an improvement from writing all those names down for the naughty/nice lists, and I didn’t even realize that Mystic’s name hadn’t been called after Montana’s name.

“Hey you forgot about me,” Mystic spoke up, looking hurt.

“Oh, you?" Delilah asked. " _You're_ working in the coal mine." She thrusted a helmet and pickaxe at Mystic. "It's about a mile from here." And she left.

"A…a mile?" Mystic gulped.

"Oh stop complaining," Colleen scoffed as she worked on a nightgown. "You've had to walk much further."

"Yeah," Safiya agreed.

"Leave her alone," Ro snapped. "Walking a mile isn't easy."

"Yeah!" Cyrille agreed. "Especially in winter.”

I felt a slight pang in my heart, remembering how I’d been treated similarly by the group, but then I pushed that side while Mystic left to mine coal, and I focused on making sweets.

I had a great time, and I giggled whenever Jasmine ran past with a bell jiggling in her mouth, being chased by either Nikita or one of the others.

Basically, we all had a great time at our jobs.

*****

It was during lunch that I noticed that Mystic wasn’t back yet, which had me a little bit worried, and when Ro, Cyrille, Ivy, Lydia, and Sugarbelle left to go look for her, I started to get up to follow, but I was distracted by Delilah asking me a question, and any concerns about Mystic were driven out as I answered her.

*****

I didn’t think about Mystic again until we returned to the dorms and found her lying on one of the beds, being attended to by Ro, Cyrille, Sugarbelle, Ivy, and Lydia, and I was alarmed to see that Mystic had clearly been exposed to the cold for a long period of time and she had splinters in her hands.

I felt an urge to go over and offer my first aid skills, but I then remembered how I was always turned away when I’ve offered in the past, and I went to my bed instead with Jasmine perched on my shoulder, figuring that Mystic was getting enough first aid from them.

*****

Over the next four days, we had our routine down with Delilah bringing us breakfast, going to our jobs, Mystic never showing up for lunch, doing more work, and going back to the dorms to find Mystic lying on her bed with the same five girls looking after her.

And by the seventh day of this, I was agreeing with the others that Mystic was just being lazy, preventing Ro, Cyrille, Sugarbelle, Ivy, and Lydia from doing their jobs, and that she was just being jealous because I wasn’t being on brand anymore.

Little did I know, but I was about to go too far.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now before anyone @ me for how I'm treating Mystic, I have no idea that I'm being controlled. I would *never* treat anyone like that. Bye for now! R&R everyone!


	7. CHAPTER SIX: DELTA CROSSED A LINE…OR DID SHE?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, world and welcome back to Escape the Night!
> 
> Something is definitely going on with Delta, for this isn't like her to be rude to anyone. Right? Onward!

Disclaimer: I don’t own anything from _Escape the Night_. I just own any and all characters that I just happen create.

**CHAPTER SIX: DELTA CROSSED A LINE…OR DID SHE?**

*****

On our seventh day at the North Pole, I was feeling jolly when the work day came to an end, and I was practically skipping back to the dorms with Jasmine perched on my shoulder, giggling as the bell necklace around her neck jingled.

It’d been another fantastic day with a delicious breakfast provided by Delilah, making wonderful and delicious sweets, having a delicious lunch and not even caring that Mystic wasn’t even there, and going back to work to make even more sweets.

_‘I can’t wait for tomorrow,’_ I thought as we entered the dorms, unsurprised that Mystic was just lying on her bed with Ro, Cyrille, Sugarbelle, Lydia, and Ivy hanging out with her laziness, and I ignored them while chatting with Nikita about what we could do during lunch break tomorrow that would be fun.

*****

I came back out of the bathroom in time to hear Mystic being teased, but I didn’t care, and sat on my bed, playing with Jasmine instead while waiting for Delilah to come and tuck us all in for the night.

“Wow, lying around _again,_ Mystic?" Kyrie scoffed.

"Way to do your part," Montana added.

"Just forget about her," Alice snarked. "Little Miss Perfect Protagonist is just angry because she can't have her precious spotlight anymore.”

And we all laughed at that, and, surprisingly, Mystic actually got out of her bed, even though she still had splinters in her hands. Of course I figured that she was just hurting herself to get attention, clearly jealous that she wasn’t being the center of attention anymore, and didn’t like that others wanted to pay attention to me.

Mystic power-walked toward the door and I decided to poke some fun at her, having been reframing until now.

“Oh, so _now_ you can get up?" I snarked. "What happened to when you had to work?” And the others snickered, except for certain five girls, but I didn’t care, I was having fun for a change.

Mystic, however, stopped and approached me, looking angry. “Oh, I'm sorry," she said, her volume escalating. " _You're_ not the one who has to walk a mile in knee-deep snow to a coal mine with a door that always has wooden boards nailed on it. _You're_ not the one who has to pry off those boards every single day and get splinters stuck in your hands. _You're_ not the one passing out in the snow and getting frostbit. No, _you're_ that b*h's perfect little angel who can do no wrong, aren't you?”

I folded my arms. “Oh stop complaining," I scoffed. "You're just not used to being treated normally."

"Being treated normally doesn't mean being gaslit by 95% of your friends every single day!"

"Tough luck, buttercup," I sneered.

The laughter escalated to its highest, even with certain five girls trying to stop the laughter, and Mystic’s eyes went wide and distant, almost as if she was recalling something from her personal past, something painful.

And then time seemed to slow down as Mystic’s expression shifted from shock to what appeared to be anger, her right fist was balling into a fist despite the splinters, and then she punched me in the right cheek. I slowly staggered backwards, feeling shocked, and it was when time returned to normal that the pain _finally_ register.

Not only had Mystic punched me, but some of the splinters were now embedded in my right cheek, and I immediately clasped my cheek, bawling in pain, feeling the blood dripping as I sank to my knees.

“Mama!” Jasmine ran to my side, as did others while Mystic backed away, still glaring at me.

Behind her and through the tears, I could see Cyrille was torn between looking upset or proud at what just happened. Ivy was clearly proud of Mystic. Ro was concerned and angry, but not entirely angry at Mystic. Lydia was smirking and nodding, arms folded, pretty proud of Mystic. And Sugarbelle looked like she was about to cry.

I looked back at Mystic, who was just glaring at me, clearly not feeling _any_ remorse for punching me, and she said three words to me that stung even worse then the pain in my cheek.

“Go to hell.”

She then turned and left the dorms, slamming the door behind her.

I started to feel dizzy, saw that the others, except for Ivy, Cyrille, Lydia, Ro, and Sugarbelle, were also acting dizzy, and then we all blacked out.

*****

I don’t know how long I was out, but when I regain consciousness, I sat up and looked around, confused. And I wasn’t the only one.

“What the hell?" Colleen rubbed her head. "What happened?"

Even C.P. looked confused. "I…I don't know…but I feel like I'm forgetting something…"

"Why does my cheek hurt?" I wondered aloud, I touched it and saw blood on my fingers. "Oh my gosh…I'm bleeding!"

"I'll get you something to help, hon," Colleen said as she ran to the bathroom.

I nodded and noted that Ivy, Ro, Cyrille, Lydia, and Sugarbelle were worried, but they also seemed angry and upset.

"Where's Mystic?" Nikita asked.

"She ran out after ye all laffed at 'er!" Ivy spat. "An' not te mention everyfin' she 'ad te put up wiff fer the past week. Shame on ye! All a ye!"

We looked at each other, confused as hell, and even a little hurt.

"You've been treating her like garbage for the past week," Cyrille explained calmly.

"How do you know about this?" Safiya asked curiously. "Why didn't you get affected?"

"We still don't really know," Ro shrugged. "We just have a feeling that there's a pattern."

"Wait…" Alice gulped. "What…happened?"

And they told us everything; the pancakes, the coal mines, the gas-lighting, and the bullying. I was floored, shocked and upset that I had, somehow, taken part in all of that.

I’d crossed a line.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my gosh…I can't believe that I did that Mystic! No wonder my cheek hurts! Bye for now! R&R everyone!


	8. CHAPTER SEVEN: THE PATTERN

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, world and welcome back to Escape the Night!
> 
> Man, things are getting tense in the group, especially with the truth about what most of them, Delta included, had been doing to Mystic. Onward!

Disclaimer: I don’t own anything from _Escape the Night_. I just own any and all characters that I just happen create.

**CHAPTER SEVEN: THE PATTERN**

*****

I couldn’t believe that I’d been bullying Mystic, that I’d been _so cruel_ , and it explained why my cheek was hurting.

I was near tears, and so were most of the others…especially those who were empathic to how others felt. And I was also feeling guilty for how I’d been complaining about how I’d been treated by the group, and what happened just made my own treatment look pointless.

“Okay, that's…that's horrific," Colleen sniffled, tears rolling down her face as she helped get the splinters out of my cheek, bandaged it, and gave me ice surrounded by a cloth to help with the pain. "I feel like such a b*ch…"

I accepted the ice pack, putting it on my cheek, and I still felt guilty. "I have to admit…" I sighed, trying not to cry. "Even I haven't been treated _that_ badly by you all. I've just been complaining for nothin-"

"Okay hon, I'm gonna have to stop right there," Nikita interrupted. "You're comparing Fenty Beauty to a store name brand. Her struggles do not invalidate your own. We've been b*ches to you by ignoring you. You've been struggling too."

I was silent for a moment, not having expected Nikita to say that. "Okay,” I said slowly, “but constant hypothermia…daily splinters…barely any protective gear."

"You're still struggling, honey,” Nikita stated. “Her. Struggles. Do. Not. Invalidate. Your. Own."

Ok, this was confusing me a bit. Why was Nikita being supportive of me all of a sudden? But I didn't need to wait for an answer, for Nikita seemed to have read my mind.

"Struggles are struggles; we all go through sh*t, and we…really need to be there for each other more."

The others nodded a bit sheepishly.

"Okay, but what I'm struggling with is what commonality the six of us have," Cyrille said. "I don't know if anyone else had some suspicions or--"

"Oh crap!"

All of a sudden, Colleen seemed to have a realization.

"I…I remember now…I felt iffy for a bit too…but I wanted to give her a chance, so…I went along with it…something deep down kept telling me not to trust that b*ch."

"An eighth?!" Lydia exclaimed. "But what the hell do we all have in common?"

We all gave this some thought.

"Age is out of the question?" Montana asked.

We nodded.

"So's height, and eye color, and everything else…" Cyrille said.

"Well, you're all female," Alice pointed out.

"True, but if that were the factor, a lot of you would be aware of what happened," Ro added. "But it's literally just five of us. Well, it was six at one point."

"Six?" Nikita questioned.

Ro nodded. "Delta questioned it too, but then suddenly did an 180 after Delilah started fawning over her."

I blinked in confusion. "I did?"

"Yeah, and you and Mystic ended up getting into a fight just a few moments ago," Lydia answered.

"W-well, where is she now?" I asked, still processing the fact that I’d been whammied.

"We don't know."

"So many questions and so few answers," Alice sighed. "There has to be something we missed.”

I pondered this, as did the group, and it was at this time that I noticed that Ivy was fidgeting and doing something with her hands. Was it a nervous tic or something?

“Ivy?” I asked. “Why are you fidgeting with your hands?"

Ivy looked up, seemingly confused. "What?" she asked.

I pointed at her hands. "You've got them in a fist, and you're kinda rotating them on your middle phalanges."

"Nerd," Candy Pop coughed.

I gave him a glare, and then looked back to Ivy who shrugged.

"I dunno,” she admitted. “I kinda just do it when I'm finkin' or when I'm nervous. It's somefin' I done since I was a kid."

Candy Pop clearly realized something that we were overlooking, and the fact that he came up with an idea of what the pattern was, it was still a surprise. “Wait…what if the commonality isn't physical or anything to do with weight or gender or whatever?” he asked, getting us to look at him. “What if it's internal?"

A lot of the others looked confused, but it seemed that Sugarbelle got the idea.

"Something about the mind!" she gasped.

"Bingo!" Candy Pop said.

The others looked around, still puzzled.

"Think about it," Sugarbelle continued before pointing at herself. "I think different. I do things different because of it. I speak different because of it. It's our brains! We're not typical-minded."

"Not typical--?" Lydia began before gasping. "Sh*t! She's right. Isn't the kid autistic?"

Sugarbelle nodded which gave me the spark.

"I'm autistic as well!"

"Same here!" Cyrille added.

"Count me in that club as well," Lydia said.

"Okay, but if it's autism," Colleen said. "That still doesn't explain-"

But then it dawned on Ro and her eyes widened. "Oh my Gosh…I could see it because I'm dyslexic!"

"But then that leaves Ivy and I," Colleen said.

"Well, do you have any disabilities?" Safiya asked.

Colleen nodded. "I have ADHD."

Everyone seemed to be grasping it, except for Ivy.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait!" she said. "That still don't explain 'ow I can…" And then she seemed to reflect on something. "What…what are some a the symptoms a disabilities?"

Cyrille shrugged. "They vary from person to person."

"Her stimming!" Sugarbelle gasped. She pointed at the fists, causing Ivy to look down.

"Wait…is that what it is? I always fought it was just an 'abit."

"You said you did it when nervous, right?" I asked.

She nodded and Sugarbelle gasped excitedly. "Autism or ADHD!"

Hearing this, Ivy blinked. "What? Me? But…what?"

"Wait a second," Matpat piped up. "Alice, did Envy say anything about Ivy? Like about when they were kids?"

The girl in question pondered this. "He didn't indicate her by name, but it was a safe bet they were about Ivy."

"What did he say?" Safiya asked.

"She had a tendency to fidget and couldn't sit still,” Alice recalled. “She got into fights a lot at school. When she got rejected for something she cared a lot about, it would upset her. She couldn't focus on a subject unless it really interested her. She had a tendency to lose track of time. She used to have poor attention problems, but they got better after she started getting better at sword-fighting. Come to think of it, her training to be a pirate and use a sword seemed to help a lot, as well as practicing hypnotism. I think he said she'd also talk nonstop about swords, the sea, pirates, treasures, things of that nature."

We turned to Ivy.

"Is this true?" Nikita asked her.

The pirate princess was stunned. "'Ow....'Ow did 'e remember all that?" she gasped.

"Wait, so that's all true?" Cyrille asked.

Ivy nodded.

"Okay, I'm not a doctor or a psychiatrist or anything," Colleen said. "But that sounds like ADHD."

For the first time, Ivy seemed to be at a complete lost for words.

"Ivy?" Cyrille asked in concern. "You good, fam?"

She kinda blinked. "Sorry, I'm jus…I'm tryin' te retain that, but…it's just not settin' in. Is…is that possible?"

"A lot of things are possible," Montana sighed. "Just look at the dumpster fire that was 2020."

I made a face. “Yeah…I’m down a job because of 2020 in the real world.”

Ivy was still coping with the fact that she had a disability, and I could empathize with her since it was a big shock. "But…me......'avin' a disability…?"

"Your girlfriend's got the same thing," Candy Pop chimed in. "And she's autistic."

This only stunned her more, and then something seemed to strike her.

"Oh God,” Ivy gasped., “what if love found out I was questionin' if I 'ad a disability? It's just…I don't…I don't even wanna say it, I'm worried that I'll 'urt 'er…" She was trying to swallow down the tears, trying to think of anything to change the subject. Then she remembered Mystic was still missing. Immediately, she got up and ran off.

I looked at the others as I picked up Jasmine and we all got up and hurried after her, prompting Candy Pop to huff about more chasing, but I figured that he would join in searching for Mystic.

We also had the pattern for why some of us could see the truth. And now we just had to find Mystic and save her from Delilah.

To Be Continued…

*****

_I have so many, so many regrets._

_So many lies, so many broken ties._

_I wish for my old life._

_Wish I could fix my strike._

_Cause no one truly escapes the night._

_Oh, won't you help me escape the night._

_Oh baby help me escape the night._

_Escape the night._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The pattern does make sense, for those of us with disabilities like Autism and ADHD, our brains do work differently. By for now! R&R everyone!

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah, Delta currently doesn't know where she and Jasmine have ended up. Bye for now! R&R everyone!


End file.
